Mentorship with Giuseppe Castellano

Laurel Aylesworth

I signed up for a 3 month mentorship with Giuseppe Castellano back on 12/27/19. It's been almost a month with no communication as to when it'll get started. I get that life sometimes gets in the way and I'm more than willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but the radio silence makes me a bit nervous as it ain't cheap. Anyone here have any experience with him? I'd really love to avoid sending a grumpy email.

NessIllustration

@Laurel-Aylesworth Have you not sent him an email yet to ask when it will start?

braden H

@NessIllustration said in Mentorship with Giuseppe Castellano:

@Laurel-Aylesworth Have you not sent him an email yet to ask when it will start?

I was about to ask this, too

Has there been a friendly email sent first to check up on things and verify that your registration hasn't slipped through the cracks?

NessIllustration

@Braden-Hallett @Laurel-Aylesworth Exactly, before considering sending a grumpy email you can start with a friendly email! I would already have sent one by now, to tell the truth. It would be too bad to hear you've been waiting for nothing all this time because your application just passed under the radar for some reason...

Laurel Aylesworth

@NessIllustration @Braden-Hallett I did write an email asking if someone is going to contact me to set it up (this was last week). He followed up by responding that he'd email me by the end of that week but he never did.

APHOTICMOTH

The participant will meet with Giuseppe every other week for 3 months (or 6 total sessions) through Google Hangouts—an easy-to-use web chat platform.

We will schedule the sessions at your convenience.

If you have any questions about this offering—or any of our other offerings—feel free to email Sarah at sarah@illustrationdept.com

I would just email again. Since it is at "your convenience" I doubt you will loose out on it. Crummy it's taking awhile though.

NessIllustration

@Laurel-Aylesworth Well... That certainly warrants for a follow up I'm really sorry you're getting less than stellar service!

Jeremy Ross

@Laurel-Aylesworth , I bet you’ll get a lot out of your mentorship with Giuseppe! I love his podcast; he’s a wealth of information and seems like a standup guy.

As the mentee, it’s usually up to you to kick things off and begin outlining your expectations of the program. He’s probably giving you ample time to collect your thoughts and develop an agenda. That’s how it works in my engineering industry anyway.

Remember, it’s for your benefit.

Let us know how it goes, I would love to try it out too one day in the future. Good luck!

braden H

@Jeremy-Ross @Laurel-Aylesworth already kicked things off if I understand the sitch correctly

@Laurel-Aylesworth I'm used to people taking a good week or two more than necessary to get back to me, so I myself would probably wait far longer than I should. But I can understand why you'd want to get the party started.

I'd refrain from a 'grumpy' email even if you're in the right, though. Setting a confrontational tone is never a great idea

But then again, I'm a massive wussy, so you do you

Nyrryl Cadiz

He’s probably just have a lot of things on his plate right now. He manages his own illustration agency if I’m right? You should probably send in follow up emails. Annoy him with kindness. Lol

xin li

Hi, I am interested in doing the same course, was looking at the info yesterday. Could you let us know how things turn out? I am sure it is just life sometimes gets in. I love his podcast. But it is a bit unprofessional to go radio silence though. It is ok to be late with something, but silence is difficult to plan. I will follow up with a friendly reminder, and I would not consider a grumpy email if you just send an email and ask when the course will be starting.

Laurel Aylesworth

@xin-li Will let you know how it goes. Last night, I sent a very polite email.

burvantill

I sent him a Thankyou message through linked in once not expecting a response and he sent back a very nice personal message, That we bounced back an forth a couple times. He seems a genuine type person. I’ll bet that life is getting in the way and it will all be on track soon.

Laurel Aylesworth

Just an update on my on-going saga. Tomorrow was scheduled to be my first chat with Giuseppe for the mentorship, but he just wrote to reschedule it another 2 weeks out. @Lee-White or @Will-Terry - if you are even thinking of offering this kind of service in the near future, please let me know and I will happily divert my money to you. Seriously....are ya?

TessaW

@Laurel-Aylesworth Oh dear. That's frustrating! I know SVS is trying "Office Hours" and I think @Lee-White said they may do longer mentorships in the future, so it may be a possibility.

https://www.svslearn.com/news/2020/1/19/need-help-with-an-illustration-gone-wrong

https://forum.svslearn.com/topic/8742/get-a-critque-by-jake-will-or-lee?_=1582066316485

Lee White

@Laurel-Aylesworth yes! We are doing office hours again soon. The first round was fantastic and students really like it. : )

Laurel Aylesworth

@Lee-White Cool. Lee, when are you starting up full portfolio reviews?

Lee White

@Laurel-Aylesworth Full portfolio reviews coming very soon! Within the next month or so.

Jeremy Ross

Hi @Laurel-Aylesworth, sorry to hear that... Just wondering, did he clarify why he rescheduled or simply change the calendar notice? I wouldn’t be too pleased either, especially if you prepared your day around the call. Hopefully you’ll have better news in 2 weeks!

I’m looking forward to office hours one day, and just noticed @Lee-White said Portfolio Reviews are coming!!!

Laurel Aylesworth

@Jeremy-Ross He emailed the night before and said he had a family obligation. The culmination of everything seems really unprofessional, and I'm surprised since most of the feedback I've heard of him is positive. I'm mulling over cancelling and going with the portfolio review at SVS. Will decide in the next couple days...the saga continues!